Getting Ready/Options for Adaptation

Lesson Plan #3

Overview: The third lesson in the module asks students to consider lifelong learning strategies both generally and in the context of the course and/or relevant career cluster(s). Two activities encourage students to actively engage in the content and in learning from, and teaching, each other.

Getting Ready/Options for Adaptation:

If your students are already very familiar with the concept of lifelong learning and its associated definition, this lesson might be a good place to start. Students can jump right in to exploring lifelong learning within the context of the course they are taking.
The information covered in this lesson may be adapted based on your course, the relevant career cluster(s), and your students. For example, a Foundations of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources class consisting of primarily ninth graders will likely take a more general approach than a class of seniors taking Masonry III. Both activities in the lesson may be shortened or expanded to fit the needs of your students and the constraints of your classroom.
The following materials should be prepared prior to beginning the lesson:
Copies of (or online access to) R U Ready? magazine articles about (1) options after high school, (2) industry credentials, and (3) work-based learning
Copies of Lifelong Learning: The Strategies handout (optional)
A variety of lifelong learning artifacts (see list of suggestions, below)
A piece of poster-size paper for each artifact
A variety of markers, one color per group of students

Objectives:

The student will be able to recognize and define key vocabulary related to lifelong learning skills.
The student will be able to describe lifelong learning strategies specific to the course and/or relevant career cluster(s).

Correlations to Other Workplace Readiness Skills:

3. Demonstrate teamwork skills.
8. Demonstrate effective speaking and listening skills.
9. Demonstrate effective reading and writing skills.
14. Demonstrate job-acquisition and advancement skills.
15. Demonstrate time-, task-, and resource-management skills.

Instructional Steps:

Recall previous lesson. If you taught the previous lesson in the module, have students share some of the key vocabulary and concepts gleaned from their close reading. Refer to handouts and/or class charts as needed. Use some of the responses to the exit tickets to transition into the topic of today’s lesson: strategies for lifelong learning.

Start with the basics. Explain to students that there are some lifelong learning strategies that can be applied in many careers in a variety of career clusters—and that students can start using some of these strategies while they are still in high school (they may have already started!). Describe two general categories: work-based learning, and postsecondary education and credentialing. Tell students they will be learning about one of these two categories and then teaching another student what they learned.

Set students up as “mentors.” Distribute the R U Ready? magazine articles about options after high school and about industry credentials to half of the class; distribute the article about work-based learning to the other half. Ask students to carefully read their assigned article(s), annotating the text to mark important points and questions they have. Tell them that after reading, they will be paired with a partner who read the other article(s), and each student will “mentor” the other on the main points of what they read. This is a good time to define mentoring, which is another method for lifelong learning and which essentially means to find experts and learn from them. If students need additional guidance for independent reading and discussion, provide copies of Lifelong Learning: The Strategies handout. Students may use the front side to take notes as they read.

Time for reading and mentoring. Allow an appropriate amount of time for your students to read and annotate the article or complete the handout, then pair them up. Set a timer for the first half of students to summarize their articles; do the same for the second pair. Students may take notes on their partner’s article on the reverse of the handout.

If your students need additional scaffolding with independent reading, and you have some additional time available, consider adapting the activity into a “jigsaw”: instead of immediately pairing students who read different articles, first create pairs who read the same article. Give them time to discuss what they read and collaborate on a summary. Then, pair each set of partners with another pair who read the opposite article(s), creating a group of four students, and proceed with the mentoring. This will allow students to build confidence in what they read before reporting to others and to support each other as they share the task of summarizing.

Debrief. As time allows, discuss the articles as a class. Ask students to consider which strategies they are already using or will plan to use in the future. If you created a wall chart of important vocabulary from the previous lesson, add key terms from the articles to the chart (see the WRS Glossary for suggestions of key terms and definitions). If your students used the handouts, collect them for use in formative assessment.

Getting specific. Since many students have little or no experience in the workplace, it may be difficult for them to contextualize the vocabulary and concepts they have learned so far. Tell them that you will be providing them with “artifacts” of various lifelong learning opportunities related to your course or the relevant career cluster(s) so that they can see how lifelong learning skills may be applied in their future careers.

Lifelong Learning Artifact Tour. Place various artifacts of lifelong learning opportunities (suggestions are provided in the list below) around the classroom with a poster-size piece of paper next to each one. Divide students into small groups, and give each group a different color marker. Tell groups they will have a set amount of time to explore each artifact and react to it in writing on the accompanying poster. At the top of each poster, you may wish to provide relevant vocabulary (e.g., professional conference, trade book) and definitions and/or guiding questions (e.g., “What is one fact you learned from this artifact?”; “Which of our vocabulary words are related to this artifact? Why?”). After assigning each group to an initial artifact, set a timer and begin the tour. Circulate, observing and scaffolding discussions, as groups move to each artifact.

Debrief and what’s next. After all groups have explored all artifacts (or a predetermined number of them, as time allows), discuss the experience with the class. You may use the responses on the posters to guide discussion, asking particular groups to expand on responses as needed. Extend students’ thinking by asking them which lifelong learning opportunity they think would be the most appealing to them, and which might help most in promoting personal advancement. Tell students that in the final lesson, they will explore how they can make a plan for lifelong learning and demonstrate their lifelong learning skills to potential employers.

Suggestions for Lifelong Learning Artifacts:

Program from or Web site describing a professional conference
Literature from or Web site of a professional organization
Course syllabus (e.g., for a course/training leading to a credential; for a postsecondary course; for a massive open online course [MOOC])
Certificate, digital badge, or other evidence of completion of a credential
Professional/trade book, magazine, or other publication
Industry-related social media content (e.g., transcript of a Twitter chat on a relevant topic, Pinterest page of relevant resources curated by someone in the field, LinkedIn forum for industry professionals, YouTube tutorial for a new technique)
Literature describing a work-based learning opportunity (e.g., job shadowing, service learning, internship, apprenticeship)
Transcript of an informational interview with an industry professional
Flyer or e-mail advertising a company’s “lunch and learn” series or other internal professional development

Formative Assessment:

Use your observations of students as they complete the mentoring and artifact activities in order to identify misconceptions and questions. Address these as appropriate, either immediately or during the next lesson.
Responses on the posters from the Artifact Tour can provide evidence of student understanding or misconceptions. Look for patterns, or identify and address specific group responses via the color of the marker used.

Suggestions for Follow-up:

Post new vocabulary and definitions in the classroom for easy reference.
Where possible, make the lifelong learning artifacts available in the classroom for further exploration. Add to the collection when you encounter new opportunities (and have students do so, as well).
Use the vocabulary from the articles when talking with students and when creating handouts and quizzes. As students become more familiar with the terminology in your classroom, they will be more likely to recognize and understand it on the WRS Assessment.
As an extension activity, have students research the benefits of digital badges. A good starting point is the CTECS Digital Badge Project.